Weegie first became interested in orchids as a young girl in the 1950s when she earned allowance money from watering her mother’s orchids as a weekend house chore. When she and her now ex-husband returned to her family home in 1976, most of the Cymbidiums were still alive. Weegie took over their care and started reading all the books about orchids and orchid care that she could find.

By 1980, what began as curiosity had turned into a passion. Ten years later, Weegie had become “a fiercely out control noncommercial hobbyist”, and still is! Her first love was Cym. tracyanum and the other Cymbidium species. She learned early on that she had a discerning eye for award quality and began submitting plants for AOS judging. Currently, Weegie is a senior judge with the AOS and an accredited judge with the CSA. At this time, she has about 1,500 cymbidiums, plus approximately 500 seedlings and does selective hybridizing for the show bench.

Weegie has served as President of three orchid societies, including MOS, and is currently serving as the GCCG Past President. She was a founding member of both the Gold Coast and the Golden Gate Society Branches of the Cymbidium Society of America.

She has won numerous AOS and CSA awards, several CSA yearly trophies and many Best n Show and Best Cymbidium in Show awards in local shows. Since 1994, she has also been fortunate to have won five Grand Champion awards and four Reserve Champion awards at the prestigious Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. She says her most exciting award was with her own cross of Cym. Tower of Fire ‘Sunset Flame’ AM/AOS, B/CSA which won the prestigious Ernest Hetherington Award for Best Cymbidium of 2013. Three other cultivars from this cross have also been awarded.

Weegie currently lives in Los Altos Hills, CA sharing her historic, colonial saltbox with two adopted champion Great Danes.

Plant table

The plant table (opportunity table) will be supplied by Weegie Caughlan.